Wow, what an incredible listening experience! I was completely hooked from start to finish. The amount of detail was amazing—there were so many historical facts and stories I had totally forgotten. It really brought history to life in a way that kept me engaged the entire time. I’m so glad I gave it a chance because it reignited my interest and made learning feel fun again. Highly recommend to anyone who loves history or just wants to discover fascinating stories they didn’t know before!

In my studies of WWII and the Holocaust as well as the many books of historical fiction I have read over the years, I have never come across any with a focus on Hungary. Germany, Poland, Russia, yes but places like Hungary and Czechoslovakia are not places that my mind immediately goes to when thinking about this time period. This past fall I took a vacation to Europe and had an eye-opening experience as I walked the city streets of Budapest, Bratislava and Prague, captivated by the extensive history and stories that were shared. I found myself fascinated and overwhelmed by the history and the horrors that took place.
The Last Days of Budapest, is an extensive look at the history of Budapest during 1944 and 1945. Using historical documents and personal accounts of survivors, Adam LeBor, tells the story of the city through the eyes of multiple people of different social stature and titles/positions. He explores the role the country’s leaders played as well as the politics, military strategy, and the suffering that citizens were forced to endure. A mix of politics and social issues, this book focuses on the happenings in the city during WWII.
The book is very well written and is laid out in a manner that is easy to follow. Often, with a book like this it is easy to get lost or confused by the flurry of characters, events, topics, etc, but this book was very concise. The subject matter is tough and can be hard to handle at certain points, but it is an important account of some dark times in history.
I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrator David Thorpe did a wonderful job. It is a long read with a lot of intense subject matter, but the way in which he read it kept my attention throughout.
Thank you to Hachette Audio for the ALC of this book. It was an educational experience, and I learned far more than I had even expected when going into it. This is an important subject that many would benefit from being more aware of and learning more about.

The Last Days of Budapest is an excellent example of accessible history. LeBor does an amazing job laying out the timeline of the history of Budapest during World War II and even with all the names and titles I did not find myself confused about the events.

Before reading this book, I must say that I knew very little about the Hungarian-specific experience of the war beyond the basics. This book does an excellent job of narrating the history without getting bogged down in the minutiae that can sometimes happen in war history. He also does an excellent job balancing discussing the gruesome details with the need to not be overwhelmingly graphic. I feel after reading this that I know about what happened and what the protagonists went through without being so inundated with gory detail that might feel gratutitous or for shock value only.

The audiobook narrator does an excellent job with the pronunciation of the Hungarian people and place names and has an easy voice to listen to.

I really enjoyed my time reading this book, even though the content was not enjoyable at all, and I heartily recommed this history to any and all who want to learn more about the Hungarian experience that has been less well known due to the historical events after the war.

This is a very difficult read, full of repeated and very graphic detail of torture and death. It's too much. There is also a lot of detail that I found confusing and/or unnecessary - street and place names mean nothing if you don't know the city and even if you do, it doesn't feel necessary to give so much detail all of the time. The same characters are mentioned at different parts of the book which is also a bit confusing at times, but the same details are given repeatedly. The author has evidently done his research and this is a fascinating story of individuals as well of the city itself. It's brutal, so can't be described as enjoyable, but I was, mostly, fascinated and did want to keep on reading to the end - which I did. But it's not for the faint-hearted and the repetition of similar torture methods in such intimate detail could almost become desensitising. This is a chapter of history that I had been pretty unaware of - certainly in its grim detail - until reading this account and the questions raised in it are still unanswered today. It's not edifying or uplifting, but I'm sure it's true. I listened to an audio version, which makes skipping bits a little trickier - perhaps reading there book for yourself would give more opportunity to miss out some of the repeated torture descriptions. I don't think that would detract from the important historical events described otherwise.

Adam LeBor's The Last Days of Budapest is his most compelling work to date. Despite growing up with a history teacher for a father and reading extensively about WWII, I have to admit I knew next to nothing about Hungary as it relates to the war. LeBor carefully constructs Budapest in 1944 for readers, giving them the political and social context necessary to understand Hungary's leadership failures and the terrible experience of its citizens. For quite a somber story, LeBor makes it very readable and approachable, including lots of great source material as references.

I really enjoyed the audio version of this book as well. The narration was excellent.

The Last Days of Budapest: The Destruction of Europe's Most Cosmopolitan Capital in World War II by Adam LeBor is scheduled to be published on April 22, 2025.

I feel like I need to bifurcate this review because I was given the audiobook, but let me start with the actual content. The content of this book gets five stars and I would recommend it unreservedly. It takes a great deal of care with the subject and is obviously very well researched, including from primary sources. I also like that it focuses not just on the political realities of the time, but also the economic and social ones.

Despite the heavy and sometimes devastating material, the writing style is approachable, clear and concise. The author also includes Hungarian names, words and phrases when appropriate and tries to give as much social and political context as possible to the historical events.

As an audiobook, this was much less successful for me. If I was rating this just on the audiobook, it would only get three stars from me. David Thorpe is objectively a fine audiobook narrator. He has an engaging style and seems interested in the material. I think I would enjoy any other book narrated by him. However, because Hungarian names, places and phrases are such an integral part of this book, it was important to have a narrator who could pronounce these words accurately. While a noticeable and commendable effort was obviously made, in my opinion it fell far short. I was constantly frustrated by having to go back to try to understand what was being said. All this being said, the pronunciation issues may not bother others as much as they bothered me.

I highly recommend this book because it provides a perspective on the events of World War II that is not seen as often. It is well researched and balanced. If accurate pronunciation is important to you, I would suggest the ebook version instead.

Thank you to Hachette Audio via NetGalley for providing an early audio copy for review consideration.

CW: graphic depictions of WWII

Budapest was a thriving cosmopolitan capital city in the 1930s, allied with Germany early in WWII and flipped allegiances late in the war, and became the site of gruesome war atrocities, vicious combat, and the extermination of Jews. The Last Days of Budapest spans from pre-WWII through the German surrender to the Soviets, but focuses primarily on 1943-1945. In 1945, the city was devastated as the Germans and Soviets fought street to street, building to building, and sometimes room to room, and a lot of that fighting is still evident 80 years later where Buda is largely under restoration and reconstruction.

I'm finishing reading this on April 16 completely by coincidence. Today is the day that Hungarians mark as their Holocaust Remembrance Day, when in 1944, they began sending Jews to the ghettos, where many were later shipped via train directly to Auschwitz. As LeBor writes, like all of the countries who aided the Germans, Hungary still grapples with their role in the Holocaust.

The book is graphic, taken from many first-hand accounts. LeBor is a journalist, and served as foreign correspondent in Budapest from just after the fall of the Soviet Union. It's a part of history I was far less familiar with until recently, because most of what I learned from WWII in high school focused on the western front, and learned only because I traveled to Poland and Hungary in 2024, where it's impossible to remain unmoved by the tragedies of WWII. This is the first English language book focusing on Budapest during this era, and reflects a lot of what I learned in museums across Europe last summer (we started in Gdansk with the fall of Communism, and worked our way south through Auschwitz and to Budapest, so these horrors evoke visceral memories having recently seen these sites). I'm not sure if I would have picked up this book if I hadn't recently visited - I tend to stay away from WWII history - but I'm really glad I did.

I spent the bulk of my time reflecting on what the early days of deportation looked like in 1940s Europe, and what they look like in 2025 in the US. The wealthy - even the wealthier Jews - of Budapest spent the early war still enjoying the rich night life of their city, insulated from the politics of the war. This hit hard, and feels like an unintentional call to reflect and act now.

As I often do with nonfiction, I listened to the audiobook. Fair warning to anyone: if listening makes you visualize more than using your eyes, do not listen. The graphic nature of a lot of this content may distress you.

Adam LeBor’s The Last Days of Budapest is an extraordinary piece of nonfiction that brings to life one of the most turbulent and harrowing moments in Hungary’s history. With the precision of a seasoned journalist and the storytelling skill of a novelist, LeBor reconstructs the story of Budapest in 1944–45 with unflinching detail and deep humanity.

Drawing on eyewitness testimonies, archival documents, and personal accounts, LeBor exposes the suffering endured by ordinary civilians, the political betrayals, and the staggering violence that unfolded as the city became a battleground between Nazi forces, Soviet troops, and Hungary’s own fascist Arrow Cross regime. What makes this book especially compelling is LeBor’s ability to balance the big picture—military strategy, political intrigue—with intimate, heartbreaking stories of survival and loss.

This is history at its most vivid and vital. The Last Days of Budapest is not just a chronicle of destruction, but also a tribute to resilience.

Very well written and researched. It seemed like the author really cared about this topic because of all the attention to detail. Illustrating Hungary’s role and the confusion that was present. I loved the personal stories that were included, I felt connected to the story and parts I felt like I was really there. This book truly has something for everyone. History, geography, and political rolled into one amazingly written book.

I’ve read hundreds of books about World War II, but few focus much on Hungary’s role. Most people who are familiar with WW2 history know that while Hungary joined Germany’s invasion of Russia in 1941, the country’s government did not fall in line with the Nazis’ murderous policies against Jews, Roma, or other groups. While right-wing politicians were able to get some antisemitic laws passed, Jews were far better off in Hungary than in Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, for example. But in 1944, Germany forced itself on Hungary and, despite it being clear that Germany was losing the war, attacked Hungary’s Jews, enthusiastically aided by Hungary’s far-right and sadistic Arrow Cross party.

Lebor tells the story of Budapest during the war largely through people who lived that history. Jews, Hungarian socialites, members of the Hungarian army, spies, diplomats are all players in the story. It’s striking that Budapest remained its cosmopolitan self through 1943, with no blackouts or rationing. What a shock, then, when the war came home to Budapest just as everyone was thinking that it would soon be over.

Lebor also emphasizes the political role played by Hungary’s leaders. Hungary had lost a great deal of its lands in the Trianon treaty following World War I, and a desire to regain that land drove much of its early decision to join forces with Germany. Unfortunately, the obsession with reversing Trianon, and the country’s hostility toward Russia, clouded the government’s decision-making during 1944 and resulted in hesitation and lost opportunities. The result was disaster and a horrific year and a half being ravaged by Germany and the Arrow Cross. The Arrow Cross members in Budapest daily hunted Jews, Roma, and other perceived enemies, tortured them, and killed them, often in plain view of the public and right up until the last days of the war.

Lebor claims that because of this history—including its prewar history as being not nearly as anti-semitic as its neighbor countries—Budapest today is the least anti-semitic in Europe; there are no hateful graffiti or attacks on the several Holocaust memorials in the city, he writes. I don’t know if this is true, I hope it is.

A fascinating mix of political and social history of this intriguing city during World War II.

I listened to the audiobook, read by David Thorpe. Thorpe is an able narrator. Anyone familiar with Hungary and eastern Europe knows how difficult it can be to pronounce personal and place names correctly. It’s clear that Thorpe did some prep work on pronunciation, though there are still quite a few slip-ups that one often hears with native English speakers, like pronouncing Jerzy as if it’s a homophone with jersey. But if you don’t take offense at some mispronunciations, this book doesn’t suffer from being in audiobook form.